Mary Swainson
Born 16 September 1862
Died 9 September 1932
Active: 1881 - 1928
Country of birth: England
Country of death: France
Sculptor, medallist, teacher
Born in Mitcham, Surrey. She was the daughter of Edwin Newcome Swainson (c.1833-1913), assistant secretary of the Admiralty who seems to have been declared insane, possibly in the late 1880s. He spent some time in Holloway Sanatorium. She studied at the Slade School, London, from 1881-1885, under Alphonse Legros. After spending five years on 'family duties' in 1890 she took up a teaching post at Cheltenham Ladies College which she held for twenty years. During this time she maintained a studio in Paris, where she worked in the holidays and received advice and criticism from Antoine Bourdelle and Rodin. Her sister Lilian was also trained by Legros and worked principally as a medallist.
From about 1910-14, Swainson worked in London and Paris and did some occasional teaching at Miss Wolsey Lewis' school, Northforeland Lodge, where she obtained excellent results by teaching every day for twelve weeks instead of once a week over the entire term.
During the First World War, Swainson started a hospital in Brittany which provided electric massage on the advice of Professor Leduc in Nantes. The hospital was incorporated into the French hospital system and finally disbanded in May 1919. In the 1920s she worked in Paris until declining health forced her to retire in about 1928. She then lived at L'Epine on the Island of Noirmoutier in the Vendée, where she died in 1932.
This record includes information submitted by Rachel Roberts, College Archivist from the Cheltenham College Magazine, 1933, pp. 36-7.
Wealth at death: £782 17s. 1d.
Resworn £776 19s 11d
Probate date: 11 April 1933
Locations
Address Cheltenham Ladies College Cheltenham England | View on map
1891 (Circa)
Swainson began teaching at the College in 1890, she remained in post until about 1910.
Address 2 Southend Villas Cheltenham England | View on map
1900 (Circa)
Address 1 Southend Villas Cheltenham England | View on map
1901 (Circa)
Address 19 Rue Monsieur Paris France | View on map
1906 (Circa) - 1910 (Circa)
Swainson maintained a studio in Paris whilst teaching at Cheltenham Ladies' College from 1890 until c.1910.
Address 95 Beaufort Mansions Chelsea London SW England | View on map
1912 (Circa) - 1913 (Circa)
Address L'Epine Island of Noirmoutier France | View on map
1928 (Circa) - 1932
She died at this address
Address Coopers Wood Holtye Common Edenbridge England | View on map
1932 (Circa)
This was her sister, Lilian Vereker Hamilton's address, which was given for Mary in the Probate Calendar.
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1891 - 1913
Exhibited 9 times, nine works in all (medals, busts, including a bust of Hilaire Belloc and a bust and medal of Madame Belloc. Swainson showed part of a design for a drinking fountain, cat. no. 1946 in 1900)
Descriptions of Practice
Listed as medallist Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, Coin, Gem, and Seal-Engravers, Mint Masters, &c., Ancient and Modern with References to their Works, B.C. 500 - A.D. 1900, Volume V, 1912 Biographical Dictionary of Medallists
Listed as a contemporary sculptor and medallist. Exhibited portrait medallions at the Royal Academy, London and in Paris between c. 1906 and 1908. See Forrer, vol. 5, (1912), p. 717.
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
'Art Student' her sister Lilian was also listed as an art student, both living at home
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Artist Painter Sculp' working on own account
Sources
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
2004
Class: RG11; Piece: 188; Folio: 93
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2005
Class: RG13; Piece: 2464; Folio: 141; Page: 10
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
2006
Name: Mary Swainson
Date of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec 1862
Registration district: Kingston
Inferred County: Surrey
Volume: 2a
Page: 219
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Mary Swainson
Probate Date: 11 Apr 1933
Death Date: 9 Sep 1932
Death Place: Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England
Registry: Gloucester
Surrey, England, Baptisms, 1813-1912
2013
Name: Mary Swainson
Baptism Date: 12 Oct 1862
Archive Provided Parish: East Molesey, St Mary
Parish as it Appears: East Molesey
Father: Edwin Newcome Swainson
Mother: Helen Charlotte Swainson
Reference Number: 3696/1/4
The Royal Academy of Arts: a complete dictionary of contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904. Vol. 7: Sacco to Tofano
1906
p. 307 (listed as a Painter by Graves although all the work exhibited was sculptural or medallic)
UK, Foreign and Overseas Registers of British Subjects, 1627-1965
2013
The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; General Register Office: Miscellaneous Foreign Returns; Class: RG 32; Piece: 18.
Citing this record
'Mary Swainson', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib4_1239723214, accessed 21 Sep 2023]
